Madden 26 become available via early access for EA Play subscribers and special edition purchasers this past week, meaning that football fans around the world will be kicking off virtually soon. As the 2025-2026 season nears for the Green Bay Packers, how does the game’s simulation engine think they’ll fare?
The Setup
To keep things as straight-forward as possible, I jumped into franchise mode without making any changes to Madden 26’s default configuration for the team. I skipped the preseason entirely, letting the computer make cut and practice squad decisions, and kept the already-existing depth chart.
All games were simulated on All-Pro difficulty.
Before the Bye
Before their early week five bye, Madden 26 had the Green Bay Packers playing .500 football.
They opened the season on the wrong side of a close 21-17 contest, falling to the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field even though Josh Jacobs ran for 167 yards, then followed the tough loss with their first win over the Washington Commanders at home.
Jayden Reed had 102 yards in the 24-20 win, followed closely by fellow receiver Romeo Doubs with 91 yards, indicating a possible turnaround for a room that struggled mightily for the Packers last year.
Instead of building on the win however, Green Bay suffered a head-scratching loss on the road in week three, bested by the Shedeur Sanders-led Browns by a score of 24-14 in a game where the Packers’ rushing attack was almost non-existent. The Colorado product, on the other-hand, was efficient, putting up numbers reminiscent to the damage done by many other young quarterbacks against former Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
After a middling start, the Packers needed a confidence boost on Sunday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys, and man, did they get it. Jordan Love dominated through the air, throwing for 324 yards and four touchdowns in an impressive 31-17 victory. The receiving corps were again led by Jayden Reed, who put up a 156 yard performance, including two touchdowns.
Heading into the bye, the Green Bay Packers sat at 2-2.
In the Zone
Coming out of the bye, the confidence the Packers gained against the Cowboys remained, allowing the team to string together four straight wins in one of the easier stretches of the league’s seventh toughest schedule.
Josh Jacobs was sensational in a 42-24 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, rushing for 176 yards and three touchdowns, and Matthew Golden had his breakout game, amassing 82 yards and a touchdown.
The following week’s 30-27 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale cemented the Green Bay offense as one of the league’s best threats, marking their third game of at least 30 points scored in a row.
Then came week eight in Pittsburgh, where Jordan Love finally got his chance against his mentor, former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, outlasting the veteran in a tight 20-17 contest.
In the final game of the streak against the Carolina Panthers, Josh Jacobs put together another great performance, rushing for 108 yards, and rookie first-rounder Matthew Golden had his best game of the season with 98 yards and two touchdowns.
After playing average football to begin the season, the Packers’ playoff chances were now looking bright at 6-2.
Facing Adversity
The team’s winning ways came to a halt in week ten against the Philadelphia Eagles, a foe who only continues to be formidable. While Texas product Matthew Golden again impressed with 103 yards and a touchdown, the Packers were unable to surmount the defending champions for the third time in two seasons, losing 24-20.
Next, Green Bay fell 19-17 on the road to a rather unusual suspect, the New York Giants. Despite the fact that Edgerrin Cooper was the NFC’s defensive player of the week with eleven tackles and one interception, the offense finally produced a dud.
The team also lost defensive starter Lukas Van Ness to a dislocated ankle, which sidelined him for three weeks.
In the last game of the skid, the Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings 27-21, with the defense getting diced up again by a young quarterback, in this case, J.J McCarthy.
To add salt to the wound, Rashan Gary pulled his groin the contest, leaving Green Bay down another defender for four games.
The Homestretch
With the Packers on a losing streak and two key players out for an extended period, it looked as if the team may collapse.
In the back half of the season however, Green Bay faced the music, winning five of their last six games.
The first victory came over the Lions in Detroit, 26-20, in a game where the offense was incredibly well-rounded. Jordan Love threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns, starting a series of performances that would put him in the NFL MVP conversation, and Josh Jacobs ran for 110 yards. Christian Watson also had 115 receiving yards and two touchdowns, proving he could still be explosive following last season’s ACL tear.
Next, the Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 30-10 in their long-awaited first matchup of the season. Jordan Love had a stellar game, producing 241 yards and three touchdowns.
Green Bay then replaced it’s prior three-game losing streak with a third win in a row, besting the Denver Broncos in week fifteen 28-25.
The only loss in the Packers’ final six came against the Bears in Chicago, thanks to a great performance by the division’s other arm of the future, Caleb Williams.
With both Lukas Van Ness and Rashan Gary back in the lineup, the Green Bay Packers closed out their regular season with two more wins.
As a Christmas present to Packers fans, Jordan Love had another superb outing against the Baltimore Ravens, throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns in route to a 35-28 victory.
Finally, in the last game of the eighteen week schedule, the Packers got their revenge in a 31-16 win over the Vikings in Minneapolis, where Josh Jacobs rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
The Green Bay Packers won Madden 26’s NFC North at 11-6, advancing to the playoffs.
Postseason Pack
With the second-best record in the NFC, Madden 26 had the Green Bay Packers advancing to the postseason to face the Minnesota Vikings during Wild Card Weekend.
Having seen their rivals twice already and split the matchups, the team was confident in their chances of making it to the Divisional Round, and the game that followed was a treat for all NFL fans.
The Packers squeaked out a win at home 31-28, and both quarterbacks showed out, throwing for three touchdowns each. Jayden Reed was once again the difference maker for Green Bay, tallying 130 yards and a touchdown.
Despite the thrilling victory however, the Packers took several blows, with Lukas Van Ness, Keisean Nixon, and Kingsley Enagbare all sustaining injuries that would keep them from playing in the next round of the playoffs.
Moving into the Divisional against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Green Bay defense was depleted, and it showed.
The Packers lost 25-19 on the road in Raymond James, unable to put together a full fourth quarter comeback, and the season came to yet another disappointing end.
The Buccaneers would continue to advance to represent the NFC in Madden 26’s Super Bowl, where they would be bested by the Baltimore Ravens, who the Packers defeated in the regular season.
Final Thoughts
All things considered, Madden 26 believes that the Green Bay Packers should have a pretty successful 2025-2026 season.
Winning the NFC North in a year where it will likely be one of the league’s most competitive divisions would certainly be a win, even if it doesn’t result in a Super Bowl appearance, and if Jordan Love can play the way Madden expects, it would be huge for the Packers offense.
The game had the Green Bay Packers finishing third in total offense with 5,847 yards, and they were also fourth in the league in points per game at 25.4.
This went hand in hand with another good year from Jeff Hafley’s defense, which was top ten in points allowed while being led in tackles by second-year man Edgerrin Cooper.
Jordan Love finished top five in the NFL in both yards and touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions, which was good enough for forth in the MVP race, and Josh Jacobs once again ran wild, finishing second in the league in rushing with twelve touchdowns to boot.
Even the wide receiver room turned it around, with Jayden Reed producing over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns, while Romeo Doubs caught nine touchdowns and Matthew Golden won NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year with ten touchdowns.
Although Madden 26’s logic is far from perfect, if the Packers can mirror some of its output, they’ll have a promising 2025 season.
